Can grid



vis

vdevice in front elevation Patented Aug. '4, 1931 siars Parar rc"v NORMAN Ji. SMALL AND LEON BUEHLEB, Jl't., 0F EVYNESBRO, PEIQ'NSYLVANIA, AS-

v SEGNORS TO FRICK'COMPANY, OF WAYNEYSBORO, PENNSYLVNA, A COEPORATON i or PENNSYLVANIA can GRID Original application filed Gctober G, 1925, Serial No. 80,896. Divided and tliis application filed September Our invention relates to a can basket such as is used in ice making for holding a set of cans while the ice is formed therein'and is adivision of our application No. 60,696, filed October 6, 1925, which has matured intoPatf ent No. 1,689,060, dated October 23, 1928. VIt is desirable in such an operation to hold the set of cans rigidly in relation to one another until the freezing operation is completed and thereafter to manipulate the entire set simultaneously to dump the blocks of ice. Among the objects of the invention are to provide improvedineans for introducing air into the cans to produce clear ice and for reducing the pressure of the air passing into the cans. l

Referring to the accompanying drawings which are made a part hereof and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, l Y

Figure 1 is a perspective of a 4can grid with cans therein as used in a medium or high pressure system, parts of the ycans being broken away or omitted for the sake of clearness, Figure 2, a detail'showing a `connecting looking across the can grid, y VFigure 3, aside elevation of the same de vice,. v

Figure 1, a section on line 4-4 of Figure 2, Figure 5, a section of a'connector at the end'of the can grid,

Figure 6, a section similar to Figure "4i but showing a modified form vof connection,v and Figure 7, a section on line "Z-/ of Figure 6. In the drawings reference character 10 indicates the side members of the can grid, said members being spaced'from each other and secured together by means including upper spacers 11 arranged; at intervals along the length of the can grid. Lower spacers 12 are Y with which we are familiar.

Serial 11o. 304,275.

can as used in all. so-called can grid systems Horizontal bars 15 are secured, as by means of screws made ofV brass orothernonrusting material, to theside members at a little distance above theV spacers 12 said bars serving to hold the cams rigidly in place against upward movements laway fromsaid'sp'acers. The screws being non-rusting, .the bars can readily be removed at any time.

It will be understood that the parts hither# to described constitute in effect Aa single unit and may be manipulated as such, the can grid being positioned as a whole in the freezing compartment andwhen the freezing operation has been completed being lifted,'dipped in'warm or hot water and tilted so as to dump all the blocksv of ice at one time.V

For introducing air into the cams adjacent the lower end thereof we provide means coinprising an air pipe or header extending lengthwise 0f the can basket and here shown as secured toone of the members 10.v This conduit is formedjso asto lie flat against the side member and as here shown Imay be rectangular in section.` Adjacent each can weV have provided a brassfitting 17 which is secured by screws 1,8 to a side member` 10.A lThe screws are located onel above and one below the air header andv clamp the' i'tting -against the header in a manner torhold the headerl securely against thev side member 10. A rubber gasket 191is interposed between the header and the fitting' said gasket having a passage registering with a port in theivvallv of the header and with a passage 20 extending horizontally into the fitting. A vertical passage 21 extends upward at the end of the passage 20 andtlifs in turn communicates with another horizontal passage V22 from which the..

air emerges into a downwardly inclined pas` sage 23connected by a pipe composed of plurality of sections of rubber or metal' 24,

25, 26 and 27 to any suitableport near thebottom of the can'. Ordinarily the section 24 will be made of metal and (will have a threadh ed or other tight fit in the passage 234while the section 25 will'be of rubber stripped over the end. section 24. l

In order to reduce the 'pressure of the flow lill of the air to the ice cans I provide a removable screw plug 28 in the vertical passage 21 communicating with the can and said removable screw plug has a transverse passage which registers with the transverse passage 22. T he lower end of the transverse passage in the screw plug is reduced at 29 which serves to perform the desired function. It will be understood that the fitting 17 has a threefold function in that it helps to secure the header' 16 to the can grid, supports the rubber tube and connected parts and on account of the removable screw plug 28 has a pressure reducing device for the air. 'lhe plug 28 may be removed for cleaning and to remove stoppage.

In the preferred form of the invention a fitting BO is provided-adjacent one end of the header said fitting being held in place by a pair of screws 18 and having a passage 31 registering with a port in the header, a rubber gasket being interposed between said devices at the junction of saidport and passage. The fitting 30 has circumferential threads at 32, as usual, for holding the end of a rubber hose 33 in place.

In the operation of the device so far described air is admitted through the hose 33, thence through the passage 31 in fitting 30 to the header 16 from which it emerges through the lateral ports into the various fittings 17 and it goes thence into the pipes leading to the bottom of the respective cans where it bubbles up through the water in well-known manner for the familiar purpose of causing the water to form clear ice in freezing. The function of screw 28 of a fitting is obviously for the purpose of clearing the air passage of any clogging that is liable to occasionally take place within the screw by reason of the reduced passage at 29. IVhen this occurs the screw can readily be removed and cleaned.

In the modified form of Figures 6 and 7 we have shown a device similar to that of Fig. 4 by the employment of which the need for a connection such as shown in Figure 5 is eliminated. The fitting 34: shown in these figures is held in place by screws 18and is provided with a gasket 19 having an opening registering with the port in the header 16 and a passage in the fitting. rlhe fitting is provided with an expanded nozzle having circumferential threads at 3G as in Figure 5 to support an air supply hose. A passage leads upward, then horizontally and then obliquely downward from the passage 35 substantially as in Figure 4 for connection to a pipe leadingdownward into a freezing can as above described and this passage is provided with a screw 28 substantially as previously described. IVhen this device is used a supply hose is connected to the nozzle and air enters by the passage 35 passing thence in part to the header and in part to the passage leading to the freezing can corresponding to the fitting in question. It will be seen that the single fitting 34 takes the place of' the fitting 30 and one of the fittings 17 in Figure 1.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in our device without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore we do not limit ourselves to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

I-Iaving thus fully described our said invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A can grid comprising means for holding a. set of cans including a member extending alongside the set of cans, a header rectangular in section lying against said member, a plurality of fittings straddling the header, means for securing the fittings to said member, means for supplying a-ir to the header, pipes extending from the fittings into the cans, passages leading through a wall of the header and through the fittings to said pipes, and pressure reducing means in said passages, substantially as set forth.

2. A can grid comprising means for holding a set of cans including a member extending alongside the set of cans, a header rectangular in section lying against said member, a plurality of fittings straddling the header, means for securing the fittings to said member, means for suppplying air to the header, pipes extending from the fittings into the cans, passages leading through a wall of the header and through the fittings to said pipes, and pressure reducing means in said passages comprising a screw having a longitudinal passage of reduced diameter adapted to register with different parts of the passage in the fitting, substantially as set forth.

3. A can grid comprising means for holding a set of cans including a member extending alongside the set of cans, a header opposite said member, a plurality of fittings straddling the header, means for securing the fittings to said member, means for supplying air to the header, pipes extending from the fittings into the cans,-passages leading through a wall of the header and through the fittings to said pipes, and pressure reducing means in said passages comprising a. screw having longitudinal and transverse passages adapted to register with different parts of the passage in the fitting, substantially as set forth.

Ll. A can grid comprising means for holding a set of cans including a member extending alongside the set of cans, a header rectangular in section lying against said member, a plurality of fittings straddling the header, means for securing the fittings to said member, means for supplying air to the header, pipes extending from the fittings into the cans, passages leading through a wall of the header and through the littings to saidv pipes, and means for reducing pressure of air passing through said air supplying means, substantially as set forth.

5. A device of the class described comprising a frame, means carried by the frame for supporting a plurality of ice cans, an air header extending along said frame, tube connections secured against and extending from the header, a plurality Yof tubes attach-ed to said connections and extending downward within said cans, and means for reducing the pressure of air passing through the tube connections, substantially as set forth.

6. A device of the class described comprising a frame, means carried by the frame for supporting a plurality of ice cans, an air header extending along said frame, tube connections secured against and extending from the header, a plurality of tubes attached to said connections and extending downward within said cans, and means for reducing the pressure of air passing through the tube connections comprising a removable plug, provided with a passage of a size smaller than the air passage from the header, substantially as set forth.

7. A device of the class described comprising a frame, means carried by the Aframe for vsupporting a plurality of ice cans, an air header extending along said frame, a plurality of tube fittings straddling said header serving as outlets and as means for securing the header to said frame, av plurality of tubes extending from said ttings into the cans, and means for reducing the pressure of air passing through said tubes, set forth.

8. A device of the class described comprising a frame, means carried by the frame for supporting a plurality of ice cans, a header rectangular in cross section lying on the inner side of said frame, a plurality of tube connections adapted to secure saidheader in place and serve as outlets from said header, a plurality of tubes extending downward within said cans from said tube connections,

and means for reducing the pressure of air passing through said tube connections, said means comprising a removable screw plug,

substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof,l we have hereunto set our hands at Waynesboro, Pennsylvania,

this 23rd day of August, A. D. nineteen hundred and twenty-eight.

N ORMAN M. SMALL.-

LEON BUEHLER, JR.

substantially as 

